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‘Persia – especially Seistan’ [261r] (520/949)
The record is made up of 1 file (475 folios). It was created in 7 Nov 1901-23 Aug 1905. It was written in English. The original is part of the British Library: India Office The department of the British Government to which the Government of India reported between 1858 and 1947. The successor to the Court of Directors. Records and Private Papers Documents collected in a private capacity. .
Transcription
This transcription is created automatically. It may contain errors.
FOREIGN DEPARTMENT NOTES.
I went ashore at Lingah this morning with British Consular Agent Agha Badar-bin-
Muhammad Amin, a Persian, and went through the town. The place was, until the introduc
tion of the Belgian Customs Administration, very prosperous as an entrepot for the trade of the
pearling banks and Arabian coast ports. New houses, fine bazars with roofs and coffee
houses & have sprung up everywhere, and the population according to the Agent exceeded 12,000
men. He has a large bazar and godown himself. Haji Abdulrahman, the French Consular
Acrent also owns a fine house and bazar near the Deputy Governors residence and flies the
French flag and also the flag of the Odessa Shipping Company when one of their vessels arnyes
in port. 'Ihe last to call was the Trouver about months ago. She took a cargo of shells,
but got nothing else. Since the introduction of the harassing Belgian Customs Administra
tion the trade of the port has greatly decreased, as though nominally only transhipment dues
are charged, the goods do not enter the port. The Agent anticipated that the enhanced new
tariff would cause a rapid decline in the trade, as goods were now being taken direct to the
Arabian coast ports and Bahrein. When the Viceroy was at Shar/ah a British steamer was at
Debaye.
The British Assistant Surgeon in charge of the quarantine arrangements reported the
place to be healthy and said that he was not interfered with. There is no Belgian Customs
Officer there at present. The port is safe during north-west winds, but is much exposed to
winds from the east and south. There is a small harbour which contained about 20 dhows,
which can however only enter and float there at high water.
There are 34 Banians here and 21 Khojas. Of these the men reject and the women accept
the awast-divinity of the Agha Khan. If permission were given to the traders to establish
themselves at Bassidore, they would probably go there, as Lingah has practically no trade with
the interior, but depends on its position as a transhipment port.
L. W. Dane,— 25-11-1903.
C[ijezon], —-25-11-1903.
While at Lingah Sir A. Hardinge secured the punishment of the Pensum Colonel and the
two soldiers who insulted Muhammad Husain, the Assistant Surgeon. The former was fined
10
tomans
10,000 Persian dinars, or a gold coin of that value.
and the two latter are to be sent on the Penepohs to Bushire to be flogged in the
presence of a British Consular representative.
L. W. Dane,— 25.11-1903.
About this item
- Content
This part contains papers mostly relating to British interests in Persia [Iran] and the Persian Gulf The historical term used to describe the body of water between the Arabian Peninsula and Iran. .
It includes a copy of the Board of Trade Commercial Intelligence Committee ‘Report received from Mr. H. W. Maclean, the Special Commissioner appointed by the Commercial Intelligence Committee of the Board of Trade, on the conditions and prospects of British trade in Persia.’
A handwritten note at the front of the file, on folio 5, states ‘Spare copy of notes & correspondence of the “Helmand Control” file (with maps)’. Folio 110 consists of handwritten notes, including one dated 27 April 1904, which states ‘The secret Helmand papers have been printed up, and a set, with necessary maps, is submitted for H.E. the Viceroy to take to England.’ Much of the file concerns the question of controlling the water of the Helmand river and irrigating its whole delta, and the work of the Seistan Arbitration Commission to arbitrate between Persia and Afghanistan on the question of rights to the water of the Helmand in Seistan.
The file also includes reports by W A Johns on reconnaissances of potential railway routes made while he was attached to the Seistan Arbitration Commission, and other papers relating to railways and roads in Persia.
In addition, the file includes copies of the following Government of India Foreign Department Proceedings, which reproduce received Foreign Department correspondence on the following subjects: ‘Selection of a British naval base in the Persian Gulf The historical term used to describe the body of water between the Arabian Peninsula and Iran. .’, November 1901, Nos. 74-83; ‘Visit of His Excellency the Viceroy to the Persian Gulf The historical term used to describe the body of water between the Arabian Peninsula and Iran. during November-December 1903.’, February 1904, Nos. 33-127; ‘Establishment of telegraphic communication with Henjam. Question of the selection of a naval base in the Persian Gulf The historical term used to describe the body of water between the Arabian Peninsula and Iran. . Aggressive action of the Persians at Tamb and Abu Musa; their claim to the Islands.’, June 1904, Nos. 300-388; ‘Reports of the Commercial Mission to Persia.’, June 1905, Nos. 45-111; ‘Question of retaining flagstaffs erected in the neighbourhood of the Musandim Promontory’, August 1905, Nos. 288-307.’
The file also includes: brief handwritten notes written by Curzon on headed paper belonging to the Viceregal Lodge, Simla, relating to Seistan and to Lord Kitchener’s planned reforms for the reorganisation and redistribution of the Indian Army; and a printed copy of the report ‘A Note by Major H.L. [Herbert Lionel] Showers, C.I.E., on the present state of affairs in Kelat and a review of the system of Administration now being pursued.’
The file includes four maps: ‘Map of the Tail waters of Helmand River’ (13 July 1903), f 122; ‘Plan Shewing Proposed Routes for a Railway from Nushki to Afghan Frontier near Robat’ (10 April 1903), f 139; ‘Extract from Admiralty Chart No. 753. (Entrance to the Persian Gulf The historical term used to describe the body of water between the Arabian Peninsula and Iran. ).’ (October 1901), f 219; and ‘Sketch of route Ram Hormuz to Fellahieh.’ (April 1904), f 230.
- Extent and format
- 1 file (475 folios)
- Arrangement
The papers are arranged in no apparent order, apart from the Government of India Foreign Department Proceedings, folios 231 to 474, which are arranged in chronological order.
- Written in
- English in Latin script View the complete information for this record
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‘Persia – especially Seistan’ [261r] (520/949), British Library: India Office Records and Private Papers, Mss Eur F111/359/1, in Qatar Digital Library <https://www.qdl.qa/archive/81055/vdc_100093227830.0x000079> [accessed 6 August 2026]
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- Reference
- Mss Eur F111/359/1
- Title
- ‘Persia – especially Seistan’
- Pages
- front, 2r:194v, 195v:196r, 197v:199v, 200v, 201v, 203r:272r, 273v:275v, 277r:405v, 408r:408v, 409v, 411r:413v, 414v:419v, 420v:424v, 425v:432v, 433v:435v, 436v, 437v:443v, 444v:471v, 473r:475v
- Author
- East India Company, the Board of Control, the India Office, or other British Government Department
- Usage terms
- Open Government Licence